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Jeanne Birdsall

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits and a Very Interesting Boy

Genre:
Fiction
Age Level:
Middle Grade

This book is part of a series of modern classics about the charming Penderwick family. In this book The Penderwick sisters busily discover the summertime magic of Arundel estate’s sprawling gardens, treasure-filled attic, tame rabbits, and the cook who makes the best gingerbread in Massachusetts. Best of all is Jeffrey Tifton, son of Arundel’s owner, the perfect companion for their adventures. Icy-hearted Mrs. Tifton is less pleased with the Penderwicks than Jeffrey, and warns the new friends to stay out of trouble. Is that any fun? For sure the summer will be unforgettable. 

The Phantom Tollbooth
Norton Juster

The Phantom Tollbooth

A tollbooth appears in bored Milo’s room beginning an adventure that has delighted readers since it was first published in 1961. Clever wordplay and double entendre has made this a book that can be read again and again with delight and discovery.

The Playbook
Kwame Alexander

The Playbook: 52 Rules to Aim, Shoot, and Score in This Game Called Life

Genre:
Nonfiction, Poetry
Age Level:
Middle Grade

The Playbook is intended to provide inspiration on the court of life. Each rule contains wisdom from inspiring athletes and role models such as Nelson Mandela, Serena Williams, LeBron James, Carli Lloyd, Steph Curry and Michelle Obama. 

Philip Roth

The Plot Against America

Genre:
Historical Fiction
Age Level:
YA

This book creates an alternate version of American history. In 1940 Charles A. Lindbergh, heroic aviator and rabid isolationist, is elected President. Shortly thereafter, he negotiates a cordial “understanding” with Adolf Hitler, while the new government embarks on a program of folksy anti-Semitism.

The Poet X
Elizabeth Acevedo

The Poet X

Genre:
Fiction, Poetry
Age Level:
YA

A novel-in-verse by an award-winning slam poet, about an Afro-Latina heroine who tells her story with blazing words and powerful truth. Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking. But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook.

Margarita Engle

The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano

Genre:
Biography, Nonfiction, Poetry
Age Level:
YA

A lyrical biography of a Cuban slave who escaped to become a celebrated poet. Born into the household of a wealthy slave owner in Cuba in 1797, Juan Francisco Manzano spent his early years by the side of a woman who made him call her Mama, even though he had a mama of his own.

Joseph Campbell, Bill Moyers

The Power of Myth

Genre:
Classics, Fairy Tales, Folktales and Myths
Age Level:
YA

The Power Of Myth touches on subjects from modern marriage to virgin births, from Jesus to John Lennon, offering a brilliant combination of intelligence and wit.

Sneed Collard

The Prairie Builders: Reconstructing America’s Lost Grasslands

Collard documents the efforts of naturalists to restore the prairie ecosystem at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa. Collard’s beautiful color photographs complement descriptions of workers’ attempts to reintroduce bison, to develop a colony of butterflies, and to nurture native plants.

Merrie Haskell

The Princess Curse

Genre:
Fairy Tales, Folktales and Myths
Age Level:
Middle Grade

An apprentice herbalist, Reveka, figures out how to break the ridiculous curse afflicting 12 princesses in this original and funny fantasy.

The Proficiency Illusion

Cronin,J., Dahlin, M., Adkins, D., Kingsbury, G.G. (2007). The Proficiency Illusion. Washington, DC: Thomas B. Fordham Foundation.